Reading Room: the Houston Public Library Plans for the Future
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Wr — • 1 - IF* ^"' i ^r f . i R e a d i n oom With its new master plan, the Houston Public Library has outlined an ambitious future. But is the city willing to pay for it? BY M I T C H E L L J. S H I E L D S Cite 5 1 2 0 0 1 s u m m e i 21 So whar was the solution? The experts tecture. Designed by S.I. Morris Asso- began with an apparently obvious answer: ciates, it has been praised for its striking Add t un floors to the building, increasing prismatic design. Even it it had been its size by 70,000 square feet. But it was outgrow n as a central library, the argu quickly discovered that wouldn't work. menl went, the Jones Building still The Jones Building had not been designed retained value tor other purposes. for vertical expansion, and to reinforce its And that left only one option — a structure to support two additional floors brand new central library building in a would be prohibitively expensive. new location, a building that could be So then thoughts moved to expand- constructed not only to meet current ing the budding horizontally, letting it needs, but also with expansion in mind, grow out into the plaza between it and a building that could be designed to re- the Julia Ideson Building. But that, too, spond to rhe demands of a new century. proved problematic. Some were con- At the end of the five day gathering, as cerned about losing the public space that they packed up their pads and pens, the the pla/.a represented, but more practi- library officials, architects, and experts cally, the plaza covers two below-grade knew that starting fresh was the best levels of the library that house the Chil- way to give Houston the sort of central dren's Room, technical Services, and library it needed. The only question public parking. Building on the plaza was, would the city agree? would entail tearing through those struc- tures to create a new foundation. Again, the expense would be immense, and the It has been nearly two wars since the space gained only some 45,00(1 square meeting to debate the fate of the Jones feet, barely half of what was needed. Building was held, and in that time the Another alternative was to build a administrators of the Houston Public 15,000 square tool "book box" that Library have talked little about the need would he attached to the Lamar Street for a new central library building. It's not side of the Ideson Building. Then the that there's been any attempt to keep the books being stored on the Jones' Build- discussion secret; to the contrary, library ing's fifth floor could be moved there, officials are happy to list all the advan- and that floor opened up tor public use. tages a new central library would bring. But again, the cost measured .ig.imsi Bur the public hasn't exactly been clam- what would be gained made the idea oring for that information. Instead, ttie less than appealing. And when the nega- public has seemed much more interested tive impact such a book box would in the future of its local branches. have on the Ideson Building, which A discussion of that future, along would lose much of its surrounding with the call for a new central library, green space and be blocked from public was part of Library 2010, a master plan view on its south side, was factored in, for the Houston library system that was it was clear this was not a solution any- released in its initial form in early 2000, one would care to live with. and has since slowly wended its way Was there any other space to expand through presentations to local officials horizontally? Unfortunately, no. The and the public review process. The pri- Jones Building was hemmed in on all mary purpose of the master plan was to The Jesse H. Jones Building, designed by S.I. Morris Associates ond opened hi 1976, has served as the Houston Pubrk Library's tentrai sides h\ Sam I li IIIMOII I'll k, I in 11,1. address what had been a long period of branch (or a quarter of a century. But it may no longer be up la the job. and privately owned commercial prop- neglect. As the plan notes, though the erty. So why not simply tear the Jones library system prospered in rhe 1970s, Building down and start all over again in the t^SOs it suffered severe budget on the same site? The difficulty with reductions, so much so tliat tor close to THE TASK SEEMED STRAIGHTFORWARD enough: Opened in 1976, the Jones Building that idea was that it would require that rwo decades the system was in what was determine a way that the Jesse H. Jones had simply not kept pace with the com- the central library be relocated to a tem- essentially a holding pattern. By the Building, the central core of the Houston munity around it. Too, it had the bad porary site for three to five years while time the master plan was developed, the Public Library System, could continue luck of being built just prior to the construction was underway. At the same library system was viewed as both over- to serve the city for a few more decades. computer and technology boom of the time, to meet city parking requirements, burdened and underequipped. \\ hen So in nnd-1999, a group of library offi- 1980s and 1990s. Not only was there the replacement library would have to compared against library systems in cials, architects, and library consultants nor enough room for the number of have at least four levels of below- other major cities, it fared poorly. Where met in the 25-year-old Jones Building to people who wanted to use the library, ground parking, an expensive proposi- the national average tor rhe total size of consider their options, l o r five intense there also wasn't enough room for the tion. And then there was the problem of neighborhood branch libraries was .24 days they debated a scries <>l possibili- wiring and other services needed to lt>-.mg thi |imes Building, which despite gross square feet per capita (CiShVcapita), ties, all designed to solve the same prob- accommodate computer terminals and its varous problems is considered by in Houston it was .IK (iSF/capita. The lem — space. allow for easy access to the internet. many a handsome work of civic archi- national average tor central library com- conthnted mi page 14 ¥ s i continued from page 21 library — opened in November 1925. W, A. Dowdy food franchises. Bui, he says, the people running the plexes was .30 GSF/capita; in I louston, they wanted attention paid to their designed the branch in a style derived from Monlicello, library "wanted distinctive buildings that could become it was .20 GSF/capita. Rating resources, neighborhood branch first. That's one using red brick and featuring a while neoclassical portico. focal points for their communities.'' When Henington hired funding, staffing, and facilities, the Hou- of the challenges with a central library The building was demolished in 1982 when the current Len Radoff as his chief of branches in 1971, a well-bal- ston Public Library System ranked in the — it's everybody's library, but it's Carnegie Branch opened. anced team for encouraging inventive designs, while still lower fourth of public library systems nobody's library at the same time. It The Heights Branch opened in March 1926 and has ensuring functional librnries, was farmed. serving cities of similar size. could be that, five years from now, as survived to the present day wilh a thoughtful renovalio*v£y k The Vinson Branch in 1969 was one of the first to Obviously, more was needed than more and more people move downtown, and expansion by Ray Bailey Architects in 1979, The origi- be huill under Henington's direction, and it clearly pre- just a new central library. "We wanted that will change. Within five years we nal Heights Branch was designed by J .to Glover, who cre- sented a different approach to branch design for the city. to determine what the services should anticipate 40,000 people living within ated o building constructed of hollow tile and stucco with Designed by Clovis Heimsolh, ihe Vinson Branch features a be, the staffing, the resources," Barbara two miles of the central library, and cast stone Italian Renaissance detoils. The arched entrance curving slreel facade wilh serpentine windows ond dramal Ciubbin, director of the Houston Public when that happens, attitudes may be clearly indicotes Ihe significance of the building's purpose, ic spatial progression through a low entrance to a high library System, says of the research chat different. But for now, we've been told and the generous proportions af the interior spaces are in central space lit by clerestory windows. Natural light pours ted to Library 2010. "And what became to pay attention to the neighborhood branches first, and then come talk about keeping wilh Ihe scale of the entrance. However, the build- into the interior from a number of different levels and very obvious was that once you look at the central library." ing remains welcoming, perhaps because of a recessed directions. Unfortunately, ihe exterior did not wear well, services, you realize the services are door within the projecting entrance that presents an open and problems wilh leaking skylights led the library to limit delivered from buildings.